Cider Reviews: Shoal Hope Ciderworks' Monument and Ploughman Cider's Stayman Winesap

First off, it’s April first after what feels like the longest March in the known universe. Someday, I’ll manage an April Fools Post, but I’d much rather just post two more cider reviews today. I am so lucky to get to share my cider thoughts with you. My readers and my cider makers keep me curious and excited about the ever-changing world of cider. Cheesy, but true.

Let’s start with Monument by Shoal Hope Ciderworks. This was a sample shared with me for review, thank you!

This cidery is based in Provincetown, Massachussetts. The company has a significant local focus, and they’ve been part of the local landscape since 2015. From the website, it looks like Shoal Hope produces four different ciders. 

Visit Shoal Hope Ciderworks online: http://www.shoalhopeciderworks.com/

I have two earlier reviews for Shoal Hope Ciderworks:

Empty Barrel: https://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/01/cider-review-shoal-hope-ciderworks.html

Little Tart:

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/10/cider-review-portland-cider-co-pumpkin.html

As for Monument, here’s the official description: “MONUMENT is an off-dry cider flavored with dark brown sugar.  The sugar is added after fermentation to impart a molasses flavor reminiscent of traditional New England Ciders. 6.4% ABV”

Appearance: tea color, no visible bubbles, barely hazy

This looks like many and English cider with that deep warm tea like color and lack of visible bubbles. The cider isn’t brilliant, instead I see the barest shred of haze, adding depth to its look.

Aromas: cooked apple, brown sugar, caramel 

The Momument has lots of smell! As soon as I cracked the bottle, I got pronounced apple notes. It doesn’t smell like a crisp raw apple; instead it smells cooked like a baked apple or apple sauce blended with rich brown sugar or caramel.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet

The bottle calls this off dry, but to me it tastes semi-sweet. The notes of sugar, the mouthfeel, and the ample presence of sweetness are clear. 

Flavors and drinking experience: baking spices, brown sugar,  medium tannins and acidity, long finish

This cider tastes much like it smells. It tastes so much like an apple dessert with cooked apple, brown sugar and occasional notes of baking spices. This cider has a full body with medium acidity, medium tannins. They create a nice balance with plenty of richness and substance.

The finish was gentle but long and perfumed. This is a cider that surely makes many people wowed with its hedonistic profile.

I paired this with a dinner of black beans and rice covered in Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar. It made for a very pleasing contrast. My dinner was lean and salty while my drink was sweet and rich. Very satisfying!

Next up, it’s Ploughman Cider’s Stayman Winesap

Ploughman is a cidery I know through my  year cider judgings in PA which have led to some of my favorite cider friendships anywhere in the country. Ploughman Cider comes from Adams County, Pennsylvania. It’s a young cidery springing from an antique family farm.

I love this quote that describes the approach to beverage making. 

Here at Ploughman, we embrace the "frontier" mentality – an eagerness to try new things, but always with authenticity to quality. We are not purists, but we will never cut corners and never use engineered essences, flavors, or artificial nonsense. Our eagerness to experiment with new things is almost completely farm based – we use whatever is exceptional and abundant at Three Springs Fruit Farm on any given year.

Learn more on the web: https://www.ploughmancider.com/

I’ve covered a few Ploughman Ciders before. Here are all of those reviews!

Lummox: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/02/cider-review-amdam-cider-brut-and.html

Dornick: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2020/01/cider-review-tilted-shed-ciderworks.html

Pinot N’arlet: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/04/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-black.html

And the Stayman Winesap receives this description online.

CIDER MADE WITH STAYMAN WINESAP APPLESThe Stayman Winesap apple has a tough red skin, yellowish flesh, and is quite aromatic. In our fermentations it tends to develop some strawberry aromas and a good mouthfeel. Here we’ve fermented it spontaneously, without adding any yeast, allowing the ambient flora found on the skins and calyx to help determine its fermented character. It has been aged for more than 8 months and is rustic, bright, and fragrant. 6.9% ABV

Appearance: bright gold, brilliant, bubbly

This cider looks cheerful and springy! It shines with bubbles and brilliance and a duckling fuzz shade of bright gold.

Aromas: farmyard, lemon, stones, and meadow flowers

The Stayman Winesap smells of clean farmyard and zesty lemons. Secondarily, I get some notes of meadow flowers and rich nectar. After a few more wafts, I can get dusty stones.

Sweetness/dryness: Dry

This is a cider that's dry but not totally austere. It still brings plenty of fruit to my glass!

Flavors and drinking experience: citrus, high acid, light body, funky

The Stayman Winesap tastes tart with a medium sparkle and light body. This dry cider brings medium tannins and plenty of funk to the party. I appreciate that the overall impression contains elements of citrus fruit, phenols, and peanuts.

This is a cider for fans of the zesty, wild, funky stuff! It’s a wonderful pairing for creamy foods or anything that you want to add a dry kick for contrast. Enjoy!

Stay safe and enjoy your cider at home, friends!

Cider Review: Shoal Hope Ciderworks' Empty Barrel & Tieton Cider Work's Cranberry Cider

Though we’re almost there, I feel a bit apprehensive about claiming that we’re surviving January. Perhaps that’s just the incoming snowstorm and Polar Vortex that have me waiting another week before claiming victory over this dark, cold month. I’m not saying January is all bad; it’s not. It’s just challenging if you enjoy light, comfort, or warmth. What I have enjoyed this month is cooking at home and pairing some great meals with some fantastic ciders.  

Let’s begin with a very seasonal cider from Shoal hopes Ciderworks. I was lucky enough to receive a sample of Empty Barrel for review last year. This Massachusetts cidery has a few different ciders, and I’m slowly trying them and sharing the results. 

I had the Cranberry Cider from this cidery last October: 

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/10/cider-review-portland-cider-co-pumpkin.html

Here's the cider's official description, "EMPTY BARREL is fermented dry and aged in American craft whiskey barrels for up to 6 weeks.  The cider becomes infused with hints of traditional whisky flavors making EMPTY BARREL a great casual drink for whiskey lovers and traditional cider drinkers alike.6.4% ABV"

Appearance: Hazy, warm straw, almost no visible bubbles

This cider looks barrel aged. There’s something about that process that leaves many ciders a bit hazy, and the Empty Barrel is no exception here. I’ll call the color warm straw. It doesn’t show many bubbles, so I’m not sure how sparkling to expect this cider will be. 

Aromas Overripe apples, oats and caramel, petroleum

This cider has so many aromas. I got so many notes just as soon as I lowered my face to the glass. I could smell overripe apples, oats, caramel and then something more brusque and bracing like petroleum. The cider smells fruity, salty, sweaty, and above all barrely. I know I can expect both apples and barrel to come forward in this cider’s flavors.

Sweetness/dryness: off dry

While I am not confident in calling this cider completely dry, neither is it sem-dry. Instead, it comes across as off dry with lots of savory notes.

Flavors and drinking experience: medium acid, barrel tannins, stony, minerals

This is a cider for fans of the barrel. Yes, there’s apple but more so I can taste barrelly tannins and plenty of minerals. This is stony like wet gravel with medium acidity. There’s some briny notes as well. 

Thin mouthfeel has low to medium bubble intensity and some real lightness. One of my favorite things about the Empty Barrel is the nice gentle warmth on the finish that comes after a bracing first taste. There’s not a ton of fruit, everything that’s stony and mineral or woody and savory are more prominent. I had this cider with loaded macaroni and cheese and some intense Bananagrams (I keep losing, but it's getting closer). It also goes well with Johnny Cash and Deadwood. 

My second cider for this week is one from Tieton Cider Works that had been waiting in my fridge for entirely too long. I’m afraid that’s becoming a theme. I don’t get a lot of Western ciders, so I buy them where I can. That means that it’s sometimes a wee minute between finding the cider and getting to open it. 

Most recently, I tried the sparkling Perry as part of 2018’s Very Perry May: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/05/very-perry-may-tieton-cider-works.html
This made my top 10 Ciders of 2018!

I tried the smoked pumpkin in 2015: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/10/cider-review-tieton-ciderworks-smoked.html

The Spice Route was a lovely and unusual blend of mulling or baking spices: 
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/11/cider-review-tieton-ciderworks-spice.html

My first Tieton review, of their Yakima Hopped, has more of a company intro:
http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/07/cider-review-tieton-ciderworks-yakima.html

You can visit the website to learn more about the company: http://tietonciderworks.com

The Cranberry is one of Tieton’s Core ciders. 

Here’s the official description: “Racy and fresh, this cider is perfect for lovers of both sweet and tart. We blend fresh pressed cranberry juice into an already upbeat blend of fermented apples. Bold and bright on the palate with all the freshness of ripe, red, summer fruits.” 6.9% ABV

Appearance: maroon, brilliant, almost no bubbles

I love it when ciders give me an excuse to look up shade names for a color. This looks the most like maroon of any shades of red I could compare it to. It poured brilliant without much bubble action. It is a very appealing cider to look at.

Aromas: Cranberry juice, red fruits, white sugar, wine and apples 

This cider smells directly and immediately like cranberry juice. The notes are all red fruit with just a little white sugar in the background My tasting companion found the aromas wine like. There’s some apple aroma action, but it’s subtle. 

Sweetness/dryness: Sweet to semi-sweet

This is a juicy sweet cider! It doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
Flavors and drinking experience: cranberry, high acidity, cinnamon, apple, cherry

This cider tastes as cranberry as it smells! And since I’m a cranberry fiend, this totally works for me. There’s more going on though. The Cranberry cider offers up high acidity but not a lot of salivary reaction. I get some apple, just a little apple on the finish but not a lot. I taste almost as much of the suggestion of cinnamon as I do apple, and there’s no actual cinnamon in the cider. The cinnamon note happens sometimes in cranberry ciders and even more often in cherry ciders. Most of the notes I taste are all fruit but there are suggestions of dust and wheat at the start of a sip.

In terms of texture, I noticed a relatively relaxed low-intensity bubble, but it’s too much to call the cider petillant. This cider is pleasingly accessible to anyone who loves cranberry, but if that’s not a fruit you love—maybe this cider would be a little too cranberry. 

I think my favorite part of drinking the Cranberry Cider is that little kick of bitterness on the back of the tongue.  Clean fermentation—would maybe like a bit more flavor of that.  This cider is unambiguous and yummy.  The apple smoothes out the astringence of cranberries a bit, but crucially. It tastes like the fermented version of the cran-apple juice I drank in high school with my best friend in AP English.

I had this on a quiet night in with a super healthy black bean and veggie bowl. The cider made the meal because with so much healthiness, I craved something just a little sweet and indulgent. The Cranberry cider fit the bill perfectly.

Cider Review: Portland Cider Co. Pumpkin Spice and Shoal Hope Ciderworks Little Tart

This morning I walked down the hill to my office in autumn fog. I could see yellow foliage glowing through the grey mist, and it was cool and peaceful. I feel grateful for these calm moments and lovely sights, perhaps especially so when the wider world is full of bad news and discouragement. And in addition to the coming of fall color and cooler temperatures, the season of fall flavors is here! I’m reviewing two ciders that really embody the season, Pumpkin Spice by Portland Cider Company and a Cranberry cider from Shoal Hope. 

Portland Cider Company stakes it’s identity on being a hybrid of two cider cultures: the pacific northwest and England. Those are very distinct identities. The people behind the brand are Jeff and Lynda Parrish who are from these two regions, respectively. They started Portland Cider Company in 2012. While I cannot speak precisely to the melding of regions, I’ll be curious to see if any of that comes through in the ciders from Portland Cider Company that I try. 

Visit Portland Cider Co online: https://www.portlandcider.com

I have reviewed a few ciders from this company before.

The Kinda Dry: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/05/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

The Pineapple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

Today, I’m reviewing Portland Cider Co. Pumpkin Spice. This was a review sample shared with me just in time for the autumnal craze for all things Pumpkin.

Here’s the company’s description of the Pumpkin Spice.

Take the flavors of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, Allspice, and Ginger, blend them in just the right proportions, and you get our Pumpkin Spice cider. Full of all the spices of your favorite pumpkin pie, this cider is a delicious tribute to the flavors of autumn. A familiar Fall spice blend blended to pair perfectly with a classic American semi-sweet apple cider made with 100% Northwest apples. 5.5%ABV 

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly, popcorn

The color reminds me of popcorn kernels not yet popped. It’s warm and richly hued. The clarity is brilliant and shows off lots of bubbles. 

Aromas: ginger, cinnamon, clove, ripe apples

This smells distinctly like Pumpkin Pie spices. The aromas foreground ginger and cinnamon, but I can also smell clove, nutmeg and ripe apple. Secondarily, I get notes of lemon and peach too. For fans of this profile, this cider will be seriously appealing. 

Dryness/sweetness: Semi-sweet

This is right on the line for be between perceiving as semi-dry or semi-sweet. The brand calls it a semi-sweet, so I’m happy to trust them on it.

Flavors and drinking experience: cinnamon, peach, nutmeg

Almost everything I noticed in the Pumpkin Spice aromas comes across in its flavors. I can taste cinnamon, peach, nutmeg, and ripe apples. The cider has a medium intensity of sparkle. I didn’t notice much in the way of tannins, but it offers plentiful high acid. The cinnamon notes give a textural experience somewhat like tannins.

I enjoyed this cider after dinner because I knew all of the complex flavor notes might be too much for many foods. Instead of a food pairing, this cider was complemented by David Cronenberg’s Rabid (1977). It’s October, a perfect time to curl up for some scares.

The next cider I want to highlight for fall is by a relative newcomer to the cider world: Hope Shoals. This Massachusetts company was founded in 2015 in Provincetown with the first cider releases in early summer of 2017. I received a few samples from them this year, and I’m excited to try these new ciders. From what I can see on the web, this company focuses on their local identity.  This is my first review of anything By Shoal Hope Ciderworks.

Find out more about the company on the website: http://www.shoalhopeciderworks.com/

The cranberry cider is called Little Tart, which leads me to expect that it will taste at the very least a little tart.

The official description reads: “LITTLE TART is a blend of apple and cranberry juices fermented together and then back sweetened with cane sugar. The sugar enhances the sweetness of the apple which then gives way to a tart, tannin cranberry finish. 5.3% ABV”

Appearance: transparent, true ruby, no bubbles

This color is drop dead gorgeous. It is a true ruby shade with no visible bubbles. I’ll call it transparent but the color is so deep, it’s almost hard to say.

Aromas: Ripe apples, cranberry, autumn leaves

Wow, this smells so seasonal! The first note is of ripe apples, but I can also smell cranberres and something that reminds me of freshly fallen autumn leaves.

Sweetness/Dryness: Semi-dry

This is so tart it’s difficult to accurately note the sweetness/dryness of this cider. I’ll call it semi-dry, but I wouldn’t hazard a guess on its residual sugar level.

Flavors and drinking experience: off the charts tart, minerals, cranberry

This cider is not a little tart; it’s hugely tart! I’m not surprised that this cider tastes so much like cranberry juice; there’s a ton of cranberry here. The autumn leaves I smelled are present but less distinctly so in drinking this cider. I do get lots of mineral notes. 

While the cider tastes kind dry, I think I’m being fooled by how very tart it is. With every sip, I notice the fruity tartness again. The cider has an extravagently long finish of exceeding high acid. The cranberry brings both astringence and bitterness in addition to the tartness, making them function somewhat like apple tannins. It’s light bodied and zesty with only a medium to low level of sparkle. 

I enjoyed this cider with roasted broccoli, salmon, and butternut squash. It was a harvest feast of a sort I look forward to eating many times this season. 

Both of these ciders were more on the adventurous side of the cider spectrum. And though I love orchard-based heritage ciders, there’s also a lot of to be said for innovation, excitement, and seasonal variation. There’s room at my table for many different kinds of ciders, and these two really bring some fall spirit!